Choose the product and the partner

Choose the product and the partner

Zatni Arbi, Contributor, zatni@indosat.net.id

The market for enterprise applications for the small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) show several interesting characteristics.

On one hand, we can see increasingly fierce competition among
software vendors, each vying for increased market share.

The competition became even fiercer as top enterprise-solution
vendors such as SAP and Oracle expanded their product range to
include offers that cater to the requirements of SMEs. This may
mean developing scaled-down application products, as SMEs do not
have the same financial strength as the corporations such as the
banks, the telco companies and the airlines, and therefore they
cannot afford the same investment that the larger corporations
can make. In addition, their requirements are also less complex.

On the other hand, thanks to increased awareness among the
SMEs that they will not be able to survive or grow without
investing in IT infrastructure and Enterprise Resource Planning
(ERP), more and more SMEs are making the necessary investments in
these solutions to improve their business processes, increase
their visibility and, of course, ensure increased profitability.

And then there is Microsoft, the software giant that we
usually associate with desktop operating systems and Office
applications. In reality, while it is still offering products for
our personal productivity, Microsoft has also moved up and begun
to provide solutions for the SMEs -- making the market even more
crowded.

Keep in mind that software vendors, including Microsoft,
rarely expand their product range and capability organically.
What they usually do is acquire smaller companies with highly
potential products, add them to their existing product portfolio
and let these products compete in the marketplace.

Equally interesting is the fact that some companies get
swallowed by the bigger ones after they have acquired the smaller
catches. Microsoft, for example, acquired Great Plains in 2001
after this company had earlier acquired Solomon. Microsoft
acquired the products of both companies in a single move.

To serve its SME customers, Microsoft has an arm called
Microsoft Business Solutions, or MBS. It provides a series of
products aimed at business users. It also consists of teams of
account executives, consultants and technical staff that provide
support to the customers and work closely with its channel
partners.

Partners are an integrated part of any large software vendors.
They have to rely on these partners as no vendor can do it all by
itself. Selling software application to the business customers
requires an extensive network of partners, especially if the
vendor aims for nationwide coverage. Customers will require
responsive technical support, troubleshooting support and
enhancement recommendation once the implementation phase of the
software solution has been completed.

Solomon

Solomon has become a part of the MBS group. Interestingly, it
is not the only ERP solution that MBS offers to the SMEs. If you
have been following Microsoft's acquisition track, you will know
that there were also acquisitions of Great Plains and Navision.
Interestingly, all of MBS' current ERP products -- Great Plains
8.0, Solomon 6.0, Navision 4.0 and Axapta 4.0 -- are targeted to
the same market segment, the SMEs.

I first became acquainted with Solomon back in the days when
it was not yet part of Microsoft. Last month, the company
introduced its latest version, Microsoft Solomon 6.0, to the
Indonesian mid-tier market.

Now that it is a Microsoft company, it is easy to guess that,
one of the features it boasts is the full integration into
Microsoft operating system and other business applications,
including Microsoft Business Portal. The focus of Solomon 6.0, as
explained by Laurent Dedenis, the general manager of Solomon SEA,
is on project management and accounting. With improved analytical
and reporting tools, it is a well-suited solution to manage
construction, engineering, distribution and field service.

In Indonesia, I was told, Solomon is used by companies such as
the local subsidiary of Sanyo, Procter & Gamble and Unilever.
Some of the local companies using the solution have only 20 to 30
users.

Now, the question commonly raised by customers looking for the
right business solution for their organization or division is
which product they should consider and eventually use. The
spectrum of available offerings can be overwhelming. The question
becomes even more daunting when the alternatives come from the
same company, such as MBS. How can the enterprise customers
choose between Solomon, Great Plains and Axapta solutions? It can
be especially confusing during the very early stage, as they are
not really familiar with the strength and weakness of each of the
offerings.

Laurent has an advice to share with the SMEs: "You must choose
the partner that you trust most." It makes sense because, after
all, it is the partner that will provide the long-term support to
their business -- not really the solution product -- as the
products are now pretty much the same.